Gazprom announces first oil in Pechora Sea

Gazprom Neft Shelf announced the start of oil production from the Prirazlomnoye platform in the Russian Arctic.

Chief Executive Officer Aleksei Miller said in a statement on December 20 that "we have become the pioneers of Russia's Arctic development."

The start of production at Prirazlomnoye had long been delayed due to challenges including aging equipment and a change in the project's shareholders structure.

The Prirazlomnoye field was discovered in 1989. It is located in the Pechora Sea shelf 60km offshore (Varandey settlement) at a water depth of 19m to 20m.

Gazprom Neft says the Prirazlomnoye field contains 72 million tons of oil reserves and could reach an annual production level of 6.6 million tons.

Built by Sevmash Production Association, the Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant oil-producing platform is designed for well drilling, oil production, storage and offloading. The main features are its resistance to strong ice loads, long self-sustainability, and year-round operability. 40 slanted wells will be drilled from it.

The Prirazlomnaya platform is designed to receive oil from other fields as well. A single platform will enable efficient development of adjacent fields and reduce infrastructure-associated costs.